1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method, and products obtained thereby, for aligning and attaching optical fibers to conductors of optical energy. The preferred use of the present invention is the alignment and attachment of optical fiber pigtails to waveguides, such as are in integrated optic chips (IOCs). Therefore, the term "waveguide" is intended to describe all tangible media which is capable of carrying or transmitting signals comprising optical energy.
2. Description of Related Art and Other Considerations
While the present invention is applicable to providing a system and method and products obtained thereby, generally for aligning and attaching optical fibers to conductors of optical energy between a pair of optical waveguides, it was conceived specifically for securing optical fiber pigtails to waveguides in an integrated optical chip (IOC). Accordingly, the subsequent discussion will be directed to this specific use; however, it is to be understood that the present invention has general application to alignment and attachment of optical fibers to optical waveguides and, therefore, it is not intended that the present invention be limited to its specific use.
The proper alignment and attachment of optical fiber pigtails to other waveguides, particularly to integrated optic chip waveguides is of critical importance in minimizing attenuation and other losses in signal transmission. Existing methods and apparatus for accomplishing such proper alignment and attachment are expensive and time consuming and can still be subject to some such attenuation and other losses in signal transmission. Techniques not only require skilled labor; often, these techniques are more in the nature of an art which cannot easily, if at all, be transferred to other workers.
A common problem arises with conventionally supplied integrated optical chips. Manufacturers of these chips generally produce the chips with optical fibers or "pigtails" attached to the ends of the waveguides of the chips. Users of these chips then secure them into their systems by attaching further optical fibers to these pigtails. Thus, there are two pigtail attachments, first to the chip waveguide and second to the optical fiber. It is known that, whenever there is such an attachment, there is some loss or attenuation, albeit ofttimes small, in transmission of the optical signal. If repeated throughout the system, the accumulated attenuation can result in significant loss. Therefore, great care is taken to avoid such degradation in signal loss or attenuation, such as by very careful alignment and use of proper adhesive materials.